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Legalize_Athelas
Lorien
May 14 2010, 7:03pm
Post #1 of 11
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LOTRO Expansions: To Mordor (and beyond)!
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No, I don’t have any exciting (official) news as to where the game will take us next. I do, however, have some talking points about past and future expansions to the online role playing game, as well as an introduction for those who may not be familiar to the game. Feel free to contribute!
Lord of the Rings Online is an MMORPG, similar to World of Warcraft, where the character you play (your “toon”) assists the non-player characters (“NPCs”) with various tasks or chores. The good Professor, obviously, makes LOTRO different by giving us a wonderful story to base the game on. The game begins in Eriador soon after Frodo, Sam and Pippen set out from The Shire. As your toon advances the adventures and quests take you in the wake of the Fellowship as they set out from Bree, rest in Rivendell and Lothlorien, and eventually advance down the Anduin. Never more than one or two steps behind our favorite group of heroes, you help and assist locals with the “stirrings” the Fellowship caused. Adventures range from saving a frightened Fatty Bolger outside Crickhollow and serving drinks for Butterbur, to finding lost ring-lore in Eregion and mourning the loss of Mithrandir with the elves of Lothlorien. - Turbine took some liberties when it came to their biggest expansion, the Mines of Moria, but I’ll be darned if it isn’t one of the most exciting places in the game. How do you feel about the dwarves attempts to reclaim their kingdom of old? Does the added sense of purpose make up for the departure from the lore?
- Some expansions such as Evendim/Annuminas and Forochel have no direct ties to the Fellowship’s path. Do you find these zones to be less entertaining because of the lack of hobbit footprints or are they integral in their own right?
- One of my favorite places in Middle-earth is The Shire, and the LOTRO version is no exception. While not technically an expansion does this introductory region do a sufficient job of giving players “a place worth fighting for?” I, for one, after watching a hobbit-child playfully skip a fenceline have the urge to take up arms and sprint to Mirkwood yelling, “For The Shire!” the entire way.
- *Spoiler* In the latest expansion/book, Arwen stopped me in the halls of Rivendell and mentioned that I will eventually ride with the Rangers of the North to Aragorn’s side in Rohan. How excited (or uninterested!) will you be to one day stroll through Edoras? What yet-unexplored region are you looking forward to the most? How far will we be able to explore with our toons? Umbar?? The present home of the Entwives?
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Donry
Tol Eressea
May 14 2010, 10:26pm
Post #2 of 11
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This game is just awesome. I have played myself 'out' a couple of times, where I just need to take a few days off. And then I read a post like this, and I'm dying to get home and spark up a character.
Turbine took some liberties when it came to their biggest expansion, the Mines of Moria, but I’ll be darned if it isn’t one of the most exciting places in the game. How do you feel about the dwarves attempts to reclaim their kingdom of old? Does the added sense of purpose make up for the departure from the lore?
As far as Moria, I've not ventured that far yet....I've been taking it slow, wandering and doing all the other quests out there, or at least trying anyway. I'm done all the Shire quests, have most of the Breeland quests done, quite a few of the Far Downs, a few in the Lone Lands, a few in the North Farthing and only a couple in Thorin's Palace. It's so much to do. These are all of course with my main character, a Yeoman-Guardian-Hobbit, now level 27. When last I left this character, he had finished the main story line in the Barrow-Downs with Tom Bombadil. And he is still roaming the Barrow-Downs (my pc, not Bombadil) finishing the quests located there (which are of course part of Breeland).
Some expansions such as Evendim/Annuminas and Forochel have no direct ties to the Fellowship’s path. Do you find these zones to be less entertaining because of the lack of hobbit footprints or are they integral in their own right?
The more the merrier. I love wandering around all these places. With only the main quest, the game would be very linear, all these other 'pockets' give the game so much more depth. Its great.
One of my favorite places in Middle-earth is The Shire, and the LOTRO version is no exception. While not technically an expansion does this introductory region do a sufficient job of giving players “a place worth fighting for?” I, for one, after watching a hobbit-child playfully skip a fenceline have the urge to take up arms and sprint to Mirkwood yelling, “For The Shire!” the entire way.
The Shire is by far my favourite region so far. In my opinion it does give players something worth fighting for. I have dabbled lightly in the roleplaying aspect of the game, and it is amazing to sense the different 'feel' one gets when playing in the Shire as opposed to Bree. Bree is such a melting pot and a flurry of activity, especially in and around the Prancing Pony. Whereas the Shire is a much calmer, slower-paced place to hang. Which is similar to the way I picture it in the books! Its great. My main spends as much time as possible in Michel Delving, Hobbiton-Bywater and the housing district.
*Spoiler* In the latest expansion/book, Arwen stopped me in the halls of Rivendell and mentioned that I will eventually ride with the Rangers of the North to Aragorn’s side in Rohan. How excited (or uninterested!) will you be to one day stroll through Edoras? What yet-unexplored region are you looking forward to the most? How far will we be able to explore with our toons? Umbar?? The present home of the Entwives?
I can't wait for it all to be opened. Every last bit of the map. I can't imagine how expansive it could get! It already took what seemed like forever to march from Bywater to Weathertop! And I haven't been much further than that! Mordor would just be so trippy. To wander up to the Iron Hills would be great. Can't wait! Bring it on!
What's the matter, James? No glib remark? No pithy comeback?"
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MrCere
Sr. Staff
May 16 2010, 3:00am
Post #3 of 11
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I can't do the game but I love it and love reading about it. It shocks me still that more TORnados aren't heavily involved. I think so many would love it!
I have no choice but to believe in free will.
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The cake is a lie
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Donry
Tol Eressea
May 16 2010, 6:01am
Post #4 of 11
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I am sorry you can't do this game. From what I have read of you on these boards, you would be a great addition to the game, fantastic addition really. In the words of Mr. John Lennon 'I hope some day you'll join us'. I know you were in the game at some point, but come back..one day. We need a strong TOR.n presence in the game....but as you have said ,under-stand-able. u have a spot at the table for when you can join us.
What's the matter, James? No glib remark? No pithy comeback?"
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MrCere
Sr. Staff
May 17 2010, 7:23am
Post #5 of 11
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Two things prevent me from really participating:
My PC is just not up to snuff so it doesn't run well (maybe not at all now) and, I tend do to a bad job of doing things 'a little' and I get way too involved.
I fervently wish we had a torn fellowship there, a group house or whatever. Once upon a time when I knew the folks at Turbine they thought of putting a TORn Easter Egg in there somewhere but then it turns out we aren't quite their audience.
-sigh -
DO enjoy the game and one day I will take that place at the table!
I have no choice but to believe in free will.
The cake is a lie
The cake is a lie
The cake is a lie
My blog
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Legalize_Athelas
Lorien
May 17 2010, 1:49pm
Post #6 of 11
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Good Stuff Donry, thanks for the responses!
[In reply to]
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In the interest of continuing this 3-person discussion ( ) I'll offer a retort:
- Good call on taking your time. I've leveled quite a few toons through the earlier levels, and each time I try to accomplish as different a set of quests as I can manage. There is a lot to do, and it's so much more entertaining when you're enjoying yourself early on, rather than literally racing to level 65. You'll get there eventually, I promise, so why not stop and smell the flowers? Or, when you get there, the blooms of Eleanor on Cerin Amroth?
- As far as Moria goes, you begin to explore that region with the initiation of Volume Two of the epic quests. You won't need to finish Volume One to begin, so upon reaching level 45 (or so) the zone of Eregion should offer a tantalizing glimpse of the Redhorn Pass and the Walls of Moria, though, we'll cross that bridge when we get there. :) For now, if you wander far enough east of Trestlebridge you just may stumble upon the hidden refuge of Esteldin. The Rangers will find plenty for you to do, I promise.
- I also agree that the more crazy places in the far reaches of ME, the better. Tolkien didn't provide intricate details for every corner of his creation, for obvious reasons, so Turbine has "filled up the corners" (in a non-culinary sense) with their own stories and peoples. I do get the feeling that they've certainly done their research, and each new area still feels connected to Tolkien's world. That's all I can ask for.
- Michel Delving is a good hub, providing a vault, crafting facilities, bard and auction hall all in a fairly small space. You'll eventually get a Racial Trait to equip that will give you the ability to map to Michel Delving once an hour. Next time you're in Bree, see if you can find the room filled with cats. Reminds me of the Simpsons, really.
- Oh man, I can't wait either. Lifetime membership? Check. Second lifetime membership for my wife? Check. Each new expansion is like Easter Morning (What? Isn't the Easter Bunny the new Santa?). When Arwen uttered "Rohan" I almost soiled myself. Forgive the vulgarity.
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Legalize_Athelas
Lorien
May 17 2010, 1:59pm
Post #7 of 11
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If you keep reading about it, I'll keep writing about it!
I agree with you - many folks here would very much enjoy the game. Come for the Tolkien, stay for the Tolkien! Seems to be pretty darn similar to the driving force here as well. As long as WB/Turbine keep that mentality, it'll be a quality game.
On the other hand, I do think that there are plenty of TORnados who play, but may not be as vocal on the message boards. It took me years to move past the homepage headlines, but am sure glad I did.
-LA
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Legalize_Athelas
Lorien
May 17 2010, 2:12pm
Post #8 of 11
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TORn goodies in LOTRO, that's geek squared. Sounds great to me.
I had an old Dell back in the day, which had NO business running a beta version of a PC game. My hobbit took about 90 seconds to open a door, and could run perhaps 100 lotro-meters in about 5 minutes. Silly, really. Thank heavens for new gaming rigs.
To be perfectly honest I've occasionally been concerned with Turbine's target audience... As time has passed there has been an increased focus on end-game material: 12-man raids, gated instances, etc. I don't have a problem with that, as I'll freely admit I've spent many hours at a time in some scary dungeon with 11 other brave souls, but I think directly competing with what WoW does best should be done cautiously. Yes, that is what the hard-core players are looking for, but I hope they keep the focus where it began - on high quality literature.
PS - When you win the lottery and have 6 monitors surrounding your HAL-9001, we'll see you in-game. Donry and a few others play on the US server Landroval, which would be perfect for a kinship of TORn folk. One day.
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Donry
Tol Eressea
May 17 2010, 5:17pm
Post #9 of 11
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would have been very cool....and I haven't found the room in Bree with all the cats....hmmmm.....I will have to begin searching for that. I've been working on my other charater slots recently and have neglected my main pc for a small while. But I've had a hankering to go back to my main and roam a bit. I'm liking the dwarf I created a lot. I haven't quite given my elf enough time yet to get a good feeling about him. Even at these levels, the game provides enough story and expansiveness to keep me interested. I can tackle old quests again and improve upon them or do them completely differently from another characters 'point of view'. Its also interesting now to see the different reactions to different races by role-players. The hobbits are chatters, most assume if your role-playing a hobbit they can just begin conversations with your character. Folks seem to revere the elves a bit more, and are a little reluctant to just start a conversation. Maybe some slight intimidation there by that race that comes through even in the game? And the dwarves, well, that is a different race to play completely! Other gamers seem to give the dwarves a wide berth.....the surliness of the race allows one to play a dwarf character much differenlty than the others. There is no real concern about being a bit rude! Folks expect it! And almost provoke it at times! Great fun exploring the 'insides' of the different races....
What's the matter, James? No glib remark? No pithy comeback?"
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RosieLass
Valinor
Jun 4 2010, 5:34pm
Post #10 of 11
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I saw something recently that led me to believe that Orthanc is in their expansion sights in the relatively short-term, too.
I like Evendim/Annuminas and Forochel, just because I think they're both beautiful. Some of the quests (and the endless travel) are tedious, but I still enjoy them.
Moria gets oppressive after a while. It's beautiful in its own way, but it's dark and claustrophobic, at times. And it drives me stark raving bonkers to be so close to where I need to be, but there's a &^%$# wall between me and it. 
Turbine has taken a lot of liberties with a lot of stuff, but I don't have a problem with that in a game like this. There has to be stuff for the players to do. You can't have 50,000 people trailing after the fellowship.
I'm not crazy about the Shire and the hobbits. I'm not sure why. Part of me, I think, finds it disturbing to see toddlers running about killing stuff.
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Donry
Tol Eressea
Jun 6 2010, 3:41pm
Post #11 of 11
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I'm quite a ways behind in the main quest.....I haven't picked up the Moria expansion yet....can't wait to do so. It will be quite a thing when the map is open completely. Travelling from the Shire to Weathertop on foot is already quite a little journey, can't imagine going from Thorin's Hall to Mordor. Would be quite the trek! I guess Moria is supposed to be oppresive though I would imagine.....I like the idea of that. I guess for those who relate to the Dwarves would find that great. Not my cup of tea but can't wait to explore down there.
What's the matter, James? No glib remark? No pithy comeback?"
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